The resin applicator and the process mentioned herein was designed to make the production of composite panel cabinetry more efficient and less costly by allowing workers to work more quickly than conventional methods. Since composite panels (like No-mex.RTM. and Fiberlam.RTM.) have open cells at their edges, these edges must be filled with materials (such as the Epocast.RTM. emulsion) to strengthen the brittle edges and provide a stabilizer for joinery screws and nuts and a surface for veneering.
This procedure, called edgefilling, is conventionally preformed by hand with a spatula that crudely spreads the emulsion or resin into the open-celled edges of composite panels. This procedure cannot guarantee an even fill density and it leaves a lot of extra residue on the panels, which is wasteful and inefficient. Once the residue dries, the worker must sand the material flush with the edges of the composite panel.
The resin applicator is an efficient tool for edge-filling composite panels. The applicator would typically be made of injection molded plastic, with any textures on the surface to be facilitated in the mold. The applicator is to be used in conjunction with a pressurized source of resin such as a cartridge filled with the resin wherein the resin is forced through the applicator through a pressure delivery system like a trigger activated caulking gun or air-pressure gun. The process involves injecting resin into a panel's edge through the applicator as it is drawn along the panel's edge. As the applicator applies the resin, it forces resin into the open cells at the panel's edge and automatically spreads this material flush with the panel's edges since the extended posterior of the applicator functions as a spatula. It therefore completes the spreading and smoothing operations with one simple procedure, which considerably reduces worker-hours and material waste. The finish is even, and requires little or no sanding.
The smoothing function of the applicator is dependent on hand pressure from the worker, applied in a finger guide on the top surface of the applicator's spatula feature. The rate at which the material is dispersed is dependent upon the air pressure and valve size of the gun, as well as the rate at which the worker draws the applicator along the panel. In an automated scenario the panel would be drawn through the invention, supported by a fixed structure and pressure delivery system, either manually or by automated means, such as a conveyor system. By this method, hand-pressure would be replaced by machine pressure. Either application of the invention improves the process of edge-filling over conventional methods.
The invention has sidewalls extending downwards from the spatula feature that forms a channel through which the panel is passed during the application procedure. The sidewalls stabilize the device during the application process. The width of the channel between the sidewalls is to be the same width as the panel being filled, plus tolerances. Therefore the invention may be fashioned with varying sidewall gap widths to accommodate different thickness of panel. The sidewalls function as a guide to prevent lateral movement of the applicator, so that the applicator will not fall off the panel during the process. Typically, the invention will be fashioned so that the sidewalls of the applicator will be parallel to each other and to the sidewalls of the panel it is applied to. The leading edges of the sidewalls are also flanged outward slightly so that the applicator may be easily slipped onto a panel since the flanges help center the panel between the sidewalls.
The invention has features in its design to overcome rough surfaces on the panel's edge, and obstacles attached to the sides of the panel. There is a rounded lip at the leading edge of the applicator body where it rests on the panel and situated anterior to the delivery point that allows the resin applicator to overcome any nicks, snags, or rough surfaces on the edge of the panel as it is drawn along thereby facilitating a controlled pace which is important for an even flow of resin into the panel's edge.
The rounded lip acts as a pivot as well. This pivot is aligned with an axis perpendicular to the sidewalls of the applicator. The pivot axis is situated between the forward plane of the delivery channel and the leading edge of the sidewalls. The angle between the forward plane of the delivery channel and the leading edge of the sidewalls is 180 degrees or greater. This allows the leading edges of the applicator's sidewalls to rise above the edge of the panel being filled when the user pivots the applicator at the rounded lip by lowering the top attachment-end of the delivery channel toward the panel's edge. This feature is important when there is an obstacle attached to the side of the panel, such as another panel, since the user of the resin applicator can pass the obstacle by leaning the applicator back and therefore will not have to remove the applicator from the panel being filled. When this feature is used, every part of the resin applicator will be above the edge of the panel being filled therefore any obstacle below the edge of the panel will not block the progress of the applicator. The applicator is then slid along the panel's edge and once the obstacle has been passed the user of the applicator may then lower the sidewalls and continue filling the panel as before.
The applicator may be fashioned to accommodate panel edge profiles of varying shape. Typically the edge of the panel will be perpendicular to its sidewalls, however the edge may be at another angle as in the case of a beveled edge. The edge may also take a contoured shape, such as a bullnose. The spatula of the resin applicator may be fashioned to accommodate these shapes. The pivoting feature of the invention, however, functions only when the plane of the pivoting axis is perpendicular to the sidewalls of the applicator.